John Mayer may have previously had a reputation for being a ladies’ man, but the guitarist admits he’s hearing “no” more often than “yes” lately.
On Sunday, the Grammy winner — who has been previously dated Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson, Minka Kelly and Jennifer Love Hewitt — got candid about his love life on his Instagram Live show, Current Mood.
In a discussion led by Larry David’s daughter Cazzie David, Mayer revealed that his popularity in the romance department has dwindled over the years since he burst onto the music scene with 2001’s Room for Squares.
“I get rejected a lot since I became PR poison for people,” Mayer, 41, joked. “I really have to make a direct connection with somebody … I don’t think that people are into the idea of, ‘Hey, I snagged Mayer.’ “
“Yes, I could have sex with somebody at any moment. But being a famous man is somewhat similar to being a beautiful woman: there is access, there’s very seldom any desire,” Mayer said. “The older I get the less desirous I am of unsheathing new body parts.”
Though his experience is different now, the “New Light” singer has embraced the change. “I actually find that people not being into me brings a real level of reality into my life,” he said. “Whereas when I was in my early 20s, where I couldn’t really miss, I really kind of abused that. That’s now out of the question.”
As an example, Mayer recalled his experience seeing Scarlett Johansson at an Oscar party back in 2016.
“I used to go into parties and I used to feel really optimistic. But I walked into an Oscar party like, two years ago, and I found it really freeing. … I looked over at Scarlett Johansson, and for the first time in my life I said to myself with the clearest of voices, ‘She wants nothing to do with you.’ And I found that really kind of relieving,” Mayer recalled. “I went, ‘Yeah, leave everybody alone.’ And I had a great time at the party. I didn’t bother anybody. Because I know now that by default, most people aren’t into me. I don’t even try and I actually like that now.”
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He added: “I won’t name names but not so long ago I gave a girl my number and she said, ‘I probably won’t use it.’ I actually think it’s awesome too because I would have ruined her.”
That wasn’t always the case for Mayer, who begrudgingly admitted — at the urging of David, who initially asked if his number was over 800, then 500 — to sleeping with “less than 500” women.
“Are you guys surprised? Are you surprised that I have slept with less than 800 people?!” an incredulous Mayer asked. “I think my fans know me.”
Asked if he’s ever used his music to help him hook up with a girl, Mayer told the 24-year-old writer and comedian that he “probably did” in his early 20s — though that didn’t make it “any less from the heart.”
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And though Mayer was a little taken aback by David’s questions, he had no problem discussing how often he’s asked to tell someone if their “body is a wonderland.”
“This f—ing song of mine,” Mayer said, discussing his 2001 tune. “Three and a half minutes at the age of 21 … The same thing that makes [that song] very direct and sort of piercing also makes it fun for drunk men to yell at me down the street. [They’re] still quoting ‘Wonderland’ and I’m still trying to live it down.”
“Though at this age, it’s kind of fun right now,” Mayer confessed. “I kind of embrace it. We all know I’m not the guy who wrote that song anymore.”
Current Mood is streamed live Sundays at 11 p.m. EST on Mayer’s Instagram.
This article originally appeared on People. For more stories like this, visit people.com.
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